Commercial harvest and
export of snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina) in the United States:
trends and the efficacy of size limits at reducing harvest

This is an abstract of an article that was published on Herpdigest, Vol
18, Issue 36, 12/11/16.

As Asian turtle populations have crashed, China has increasingly turned
to international import to meet domestic demand, which has increased
pressure on global turtle populations. Snapping turtles (Chelydra
serpentina) are being harvested in unprecedented numbers in the United
States (US) to meet the needs of this international market. Here we
report US snapping turtle live export from 1999 to 2013, and for the
first time test the effectiveness of size limits in reducing commercial
harvest numbers. Over three million live snapping turtles from farm and
wild caught stock were exported from the US to Asia in 2012–14 alone.
Increases in the export of wild caught snapping turtles to over 200,000
individuals in 2012 and 2014, compared to under 50,000 in other years,
may indicate that farms are becoming unable to keep up with increasing
demand. Annual harvest pressure at the state level increased linearly
from 1998 to 2013, mirroring trends in federal export over the same time
period. Our model estimates that size-limits were effective at reducing
harvest by 30–87% in years with high harvest pressure. However, the
majority of size limit regulations result in the removal of larger
breeding adults, which has been shown to be detrimental to long term
population viability. Regulatory approaches dedicated to the long term
management of this iconic species will need to balance the short term
gains, in the form of reduced harvest rates, with long term population
viability.